


Network Issues

by lightofdaye



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Background Harry/Ginny, Canon Compliant, Gen, Post Wizarding War, Slug Club, Social Networking, old boys network, slughorn being slughorn, that's not the point
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-21
Updated: 2019-08-21
Packaged: 2020-09-23 14:56:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,459
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20341999
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lightofdaye/pseuds/lightofdaye
Summary: Harry and Ginny attend a party organised by her boss, but people have other motives for holding it.





	Network Issues

**Author's Note:**

> On my latest re-read of HBP, I wondered a lot about Slughorn post-war. Would he still be up to his old tricks? Would he still trying to get Harry in the Slug Club? How would Harry react the manipulation? This was written to figure it all out. I hope it works,

Harry Potter tugged at the tight collar of the formal shirt under his dress robes for the umpteenth time until he saw the look that his girlfriend Ginny was giving him, a mixture of exasperation and amusement, and stopped. 

“Sorry, dear,” he said.

“Don’t worry, you look fine.” Ginny said breaking into a full smile. 

“Thanks. And so do you,” Harry replied. “More than fine I mean, great. Gorgeous even.”

Ginny was wearing a forest green dress a few shades lighter than Harry’s dark dress robes and wearing her red hair free instead of it’s now customary chaser’s tail. She laughed.

“Deep breath there, Harry.”

“Sorry,” he muttered. “just don’t want to wreck your party for you.”

She took his hand, gently.

“You couldn’t possibly. Worse comes to worse, pretend you’re at work.”

It was Harry’s turn to laugh; a quick bark like chuckle escaped him. 

“No, no. I’m not thinking about work at all tonight, I promise.”

And hand in hand, they Disapparated.

Gwenog Jones’ partner let them into their house and showed them in to their wide living room already full of guests to Gwen’s party. Gwenog was slowing making the move from player to player-coach to coach at the Hollyhead Harpies and rumour was she bidding to become full on manager by the time she was done.

Ginny led their plunge into the party, not only was she better at it than Harry, she was the whole reason they were there. A couple of years into her quidditch career and Ginny was a semi-regular starting chaser for the Harpies’, which was not a bad position to be in at that stage but when your prospective manager asks you to go to a party it wasn’t really taken as a request.

They mingled. Harry plastered a hopefully convincing smile to his face and ignored the quick glance to his forehead that every new person did. The Brownian motion of the party seperated him from Giny eventually to his annoyance. Despite what he’d said before they arrived, there was a lot of similarity to Auror work, leading questions and letting the other person supply most of the conversation was the order of the day.

Harry was just making a move on the buffet table when a voice called out to him. A bluff familiar, overly jovial voice.

“Harry, m’boy! I was hoping to run into you here!”

Harry turned and saw Horace Slughorn, potions master of Hogwarts school, waddling towards him. He was even more massive albeit in width rather than height and had less hair and a bigger moustache. Harry felt a certain amount of ambivalence upon seeing him, Slughorn was essentially harmless and had sided against Voldemort in the second war and yet Harry had never been able to convince himself he actually like the man.

“Horace,” he said, keeping his tone even. “it’s been a while. How are you? Is Professor McGonagall keeping well?”

“Oh yes, oh yes. Very well thank you, both of us. Well as well as can be expected at my age.” Slughorn said.

Harry merely smiled, familiar with Slughorn’s patter of old.

“And yourself?” Slughorn continued. “Not that I need to ask of course, been following your career with great interest. Like everyone. And Miss Weasley’s too. Done as well as anyone in my club! As I was mentioning to dear Gwen just the other day.”

“Thank you.” Harry said still smiling though rather fixedly. “It’s amazing what a leg up offing a Dark Lord can be to a career as an Auror.”

“Yes, yes. Everyone needs a leg up now and again don’t they? No harm in that.” Slughorn paused and his moustache bristled slightly, he seemed to be mulling over his next words carefully and Harry sensed, or perhaps hoped the man was coming to his point. “Now I have a student, Harry, not lucky enough to ahem ‘knock off a Dark lord’ but they still want to be an Auror. I could introduce you if you like.”

“Now Horace, what have you been telling this person?” Harry said. “I’m still quite junior in the department, no say in hiring at all.” 

“Everyone starts out junior, Harry. Why Gwennog wasn’t even a professional when I took her under my wing and now look at her, hiring people like Miss Weasley. Still has time to take my advice though.”

At another time, Harry might have thought Slughorn was puffing himself up to impress and in a way he was. The thing about being an Auror was you developed a very good ear for threats.

“Gwenog’s a credit to you of course,” Harry said gently, “But I would have serious doubts about the judgement of any manager that needed advice to tell them that Ginny deserved a place on their team.” 

“Oh of course,” Slughorn waved a hand airily. “But you’ll at least meet my student won’t you? It is a party after all.”

And taking his agreement as read, Slughorn disappeared into the crowd and Harry had just enough time to down a fortifying drink before he returned with a slight young person in tow. They had short dark hair, dark eyes and olive skin. They was a slightly feminine cast to their features but their dress robes were cut in a mascaline style.

“Samantha Bailey,” Slughorn said, “This is Auror Harry Potter. Auror Potter this is my student, Samantha, or Sam. If, ah, you become friends.”

Apparently feeling he’s said enough already, Slughorn slid into the background with surprising grace.

“Pleased to meet you,” Harry said, inclining his glass towards them. 

Sam looked politely sceptical. They didn’t look up at his scar directly but they did look Harry up and down in an appraising sort of way. Harry tried to estimate their age. They were still a student but presumably Of Age if Slughorn organised this party for her, though in fairness Horace had probably multiple objectives for the evening. Harry though Sam must have been in first or second year when he left Hogwarts though he didn’t recognise them. 

“Professor Slughorn says you want to be come an Auror.”

“I do,” Sam’s voice would have melodious if they weren’t being so terse. There was a pause. Harry was no chatterbox himself but this was silly he thought.

“I imagine he thought you might have questions?”

“He thought knowing you would help me get hired.”

“Did he?”

“Yes, he also thinks I would then owe him for the introduction.”

Harry suppressed a smile; terse, blunt and not uninsightful. He wasn’t sure he liked them, but Sam would certainly fit in at the office.

“Regardless, do you have questions?”

Sam as it happened, didn’t have many. So Harry asked the questions. Their subjects at school, their grades, Harry purposefully refused to ask what House she was in. Why exactly they want to become an Auror.

“It needs doing,” Sam said. “What’s the point of magic if you don’t do anything with it?”

Harry smiled and nodded.

“And don’t think Slughorn told me to say that,” Sam snapped, it was perhaps the first words they’d said to Harry unbidden.

“I don’t think that at all, Sam,” Harry said gently. “Now about Professor Slughorn. May I repeat something my own mentor told me about him? He undoubtedly has a good eye for skilled and talent people. People who will go on to rise high in their chosen professions. No doubt he will attempt to collect you. It’s up to you to decide if will let him or not.”

Sam nodded slowly.

“Now I can attest to the latter personally but keeping in mind the former, well, would you like me to put in a good word for you with my boss?”

Sam looked at him.

“No, thank you sir.”

Harry gauged their expression and extended his hand to them.

“Hey handsome, do you want to get out of here?” Ginny said in Harry’s ear sometime later.

“Oh yes. I mean, if you want to.” Harry said, damping down his enthusiasm. Ginny laughed her musical laugh.

“I’ve done enough schmoozing for duty’s sake, I’d say,” Ginny said. “I appreciate you coming. I’m sorry for abandoning you by the way.”

They winded their way towards the door.

“Don’t worry, Horace has been introducing me to new friends.”

“Horace? Slughorn you mean,” Ginny said, surprised. “He’s still going?”

“Still going, still collecting people, or trying to, anyway.”

“You?”

“Me, you, his student. Anyone really.” Harry said, glancing back to where Sam hung at the edge of a circle of party goers. “I shall have to ask Neville about them actually. I may be speaking to Robards on their behalf after all.”

Harry had never been collected by Horace Slughorn but talent was talent after all.


End file.
